What I'm reading ...

I have started A History of the World in 47 Borders by Jonn Elledge. Time for some non-fiction and this looked like a book from which I might learn something, whilst being quite a light read. Here’s the blurb:

People have been drawing lines on maps for as long as there have been maps to draw on. Sometimes rooted in physical geography, sometimes entirely arbitrary, these lines might often have looked very different if a war or treaty or the decisions of a handful of tired Europeans had gone a different way. By telling the stories of these borders, we can learn a lot about how political identities are shaped, why the world looks the way it does - and about the scale of human folly.

From the Roman attempts to define the boundaries of civilisation, to the secret British-French agreement to carve up the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, to the reason why landlocked Bolivia still maintains a navy, this is a fascinating, witty and surprising look at the history of the world told through its borders.

Small Pleasures - by Clare Chambers

This book is essentially a mystery story, told from the viewpoint of the investigator, Jean. It is well written, with well drawn characters and the description of England in the last 1950s is very evocative.

As I went along, I guessed how aspects of the story might work out, but the final outcome remained a mystery until the last pages of the book.

What I'm reading ...

I have started Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers - a book recommended to me recently. I should be moving on to non-fiction, but I’m on holiday and need a relaxing read. Here’s the blurb:

1957, the suburbs of South East London. Jean Swinney is a journalist on a local paper, trapped in a life of duty and disappointment from which there is no likelihood of escape.

When a young woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth, it is down to Jean to discover whether she is a miracle or a fraud.

As the investigation turns her quiet life inside out, Jean is suddenly given an unexpected chance at friendship, love and - possibly - happiness.

But there will, inevitably, be a price to pay.

The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett

The main subject of this book is family relationships. The author explores this by envisaging about the most complex family one could imagine. A family that includes homosexuality, domestic abuse, secrets, estrangement, jealousy and regrets. It is interesting to see how someone (Sabine), who has lived a lot of her life - all her adulthood anyway - in one place (California) responds when plunged into the midst of a family in a very different place (Nebraska).

I enjoyed the nuences and complexities of the story, but was slightly unfulfilled by the ending, which could be interpreted in a number of ways - but perhaps that is just what life is like.